The king vacates the international stage

No words. Just awe!

'I want to be walk off the cricket field with a walking stick' - Vaughan

Speaking to the press on the wake of England's exit from the World Cup, the English captain Michael Vaughan was his usual self, effusive in praise of his team. "We had a gameplan, which was to suck in all departments, and as usual, we executed it without any glitches. The lads played upto their potential and all the efforts that we have not put in did not go in vain."

When quizzed on individual performances, Vaughan did not pull any punches back "I always back myself not to score runs, since I was leading the team and a real English captain never scores runs. Freddie, understandably, did not want to spend too much time in the middle with the bat since he has always thought that beer is a man's best friend. KP was as selfish as ever. Collingwood and Bell tried spoiling our party, but they weren't successful, were they?" he remarked with an evil grin.

A few years down the line, a walking stick might soon replace the cricket bat in the familiar sight of Michael Vaughan walking back to the pavilion

"The bowling has been excellent throughout the tournament. Sajid Mahmood and James Andersen have bowling averages more than the batting averages of greats like Sachin, Lara and Ponting. Take that Ricky" he roared demonstrating the fierce Ashes rivalry with the Aussie captain.

Vaughan also promised to carry forward the rich legacy of English captains and players playing on pointlessly well after their shelf-life. "It is a well known fact that Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting, Alec Stewart and many others were not in their primes when they retired. I want to take it one step ahead. I want to be walk off the cricket field with a walking stick" he coughed.

"The future definitely looks bright for English cricket. There are a lot of positives to take forward, especially with youngsters like Paul Nixon - who was blessed with a grandson recently - showing their potential and teenagers like Mal Loye waiting in the wings." he concluded.

BCCI shocker to Rajnikanth fans

In an unprecedented move, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called for a ban against the song 'Sahara Saaral thoovudo' from the much anticipated Rajnikanth blockbuster Sivaji. The reason, apparently, is that the BCCI feels that such a pathetic song being propagated by heavyweights like Rajnikanth and AR Rahman seriously dents the image of their official sponsors Sahara.

Commenting on the issue, the BCCI Seceretary Mr.Niranjan Shah said "It is a sad state of affairs that we have in our hands. A sorry song like this coming from the music maestro Sachin Tendulkar himself seriously tarnishes the reputation of the official sponsors of Team India. I did not expect this from Sachin." evidently confusing Tendulkar with AR Rahman.

Sources close to Dinesh Karthik claim that he is extremeley disppointed by BCCI's appeal. He is supposed to have said "First they say I cannot speak to the media. Now I cannot even listen to Thalaivar's song. What next, ban on Namitha movies?"

Sri Lankan ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who is a Thalaivar fan himself was vehement in expressing opposition. "They can stop us from hearing the song. But no one can stop me from singing it. Sahara Saaral Thoovodo, Bopara Bowled Aanado..." he quipped, manifesting his delight at winning against England.

BCCI received unexpected support from England Skipper Michael Vaughan. "I wholeheartedly support the voice of BCCI. This whole sledging thing by Murali has to be investigated. And there is no drinking culture in the team. Ulla-la-la-leyo, hic hic" he hicked before retiring with a sprained ankle.

"This is totally ridiculous. Perform or perish. Chappell must quit." howled Former Indian Captain Kris Srikanth on CNN-IBN in response to the question "Is Rajnikanth finally growing up?" put forward by Rajdeep Sardesai.

Other prominent Chennai Thalaivar fanatics like Lakshmipathy Balaji, WV Raman and Dennis Lillee were unavailable for comment.

A champion bids adieu

Anil Kumble's retirement from one day international cricket was expected and will serve Indian cricket well, since it will help extend his Test match career. He has not been the first choice spinner in the shorter version of the game for quite some time now. Ganguly and Dravid have shown an inclination towards Harbhajan Singh over Kumble and there was no point in him continuing. With all due respect, Kumble was just a shadow of the one day bowler, who tormented batsmen within the first 15 overs as well as at the death, post his return from the rotator cuff injury. His contribution with the bat was minimum and fielding was never his claim to fame.

But the fact remains that he is the best spinner the country has ever produced. What makes him the best is that, unlike the prolific quartet of Chandra, Venkat, Bedi and Prasanna, he never had a quality spinner to partner him at the other end. He had to deliver every time he stepped into the field, and he has managed to accomplish it more times than not. He has run through opposition more frequently and won more matches for the team in Tests, but his contribution in coloured clothing should not be overshadowed by his achievements in whites.

Vintage Cricket

4 runs required from 32 balls, 5 wickets in hand. Should have been a cruise for South Africa. Lasith Malinga had other ideas.

44.5	Malinga to Pollock, OUT, BINGO! Finally Malinga strikes, that is a superb bit of bowling. It's a slower ball on the stumps, Pollock just does not pick it, plays inside the line of the ball and loses his leg stump. Even with the game all but gone Sri Lanka are fighting. Pollock played a good hand but now he's gone!
	SM Pollock b Malinga 13 (23m 24b 1x4 0x6) SR: 54.16
44.6	Malinga to Hall, OUT, ANOTHER! Andrew Hall goes off the very first ball! It's another speared-in yorker, Hall just about manages to dig it out, but he can't keep the ball down ... it bobs up into the air for the man at cover to pouch easily! Is there a twise left in this game
	AJ Hall c Tharanga b Malinga 0 (2m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00

Over number 45 - Chaminda Vass concedes just 1 run.

3 runs required from 24 balls. Malinga reloaded!

46.1	Malinga to Kallis, OUT, Would you believe it? Malinga has got the hat-trick! Full, furious, outside off stump, Kallis goes for a square-drive and nicks it behind. Loud appeal. Kallis stays rooted. Even louder appeal and Harper raises the fatal finger. SA eight down and choking real badly.
	JH Kallis c Sangakkara b Malinga 86 (187m 110b 4x4 0x6) SR: 78.18
46.2	Malinga to Ntini, OUT, And then they were one! Malinga gets four in four. Unbelievable! Screaming yorker and Ntini drives, plays all over it and ball crashes into the middle stump. Malinga is slinging down magic deliveries and SA are nine down.
	M Ntini b Malinga 0 (2m 1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
46.3	Malinga to Langeveldt, no run, beaten Just kissed past the off stump. Tremendous nerves out there. Full and just outside off, yorker-length, Langeveldt pokes at it and gets beaten
46.4	Malinga to Langeveldt, no run, full, straight, on the off stump, pushed to mid-off. 3 to win from 20 balls. Camera pans to South Africa dressing room. They look stunned
46.5	Malinga to Langeveldt, 1 run, Jayasuriya mis-fields at squareleg and SA sneak in one run. SLower one, on the middle and leg, turned to behind square. Jayasuriya moves to his right but misfields.
46.6	Malinga to Peterson, no run, beauty, another delivery that teases the outside edge. Full and tailing

2 runs required from 18 balls. Over number 47 - Vaas bowls a maiden over (in cricketing parlance).

2 runs required from 12 balls. 1 wicket in hand. It Malinga again.

48.1	Malinga to Peterson, no run, Swing and a miss. What a cracking game this has been. Full and just outside off stump, slants away, he has a drive, but inside the line and the ball rushes past the outside edge.
48.2	Malinga to Peterson, FOUR, Peterson does it for SA with a edge past the slip. Fullish, outside off stump, Peterson drives, gets a outside edge and it runs down to third man boundary. SA have won. They nearly choked but have pulled it off. Peterson jumps in the air, pumps his fist and then smashes the stumps down at the other end. Immediately apologises! What a cracker of a game!

This is what the beauty of the game is all about - the glorious uncertainties, as they call it.

Youtube video of Malinga taking 4 wickets in as many balls is available here. Not sure how long it will be there, considering ICC's endeavour to "protect" the commercial broadcast rights . It is a must watch, if you missed the game live.

Commentary Courtesy: Cricinfo

Adios Inzi

He scored 37 runs off 32 balls. The calm at the crease, the unhurried manner in which he walked around, 3 huge sixes, a pull shot of the second ball he faced, nudges to the offside for singles - all were so typical of him. Then he tried to smash one more over the rope, but did not get it out of the middle of the bat. As the ball soared high and Sean Williams, one of Zimbabwe's better fielders got underneath it, millions of ardent followers of the game around the globe would have uttered a silent prayer for Williams to drop the catch. But it was not to be, and it was time to say goodbye to Inzamam-ul-haq. The members of the Pakistan team were there to salute their captain, arguably the greatest batsman to grace the turf for Pakistan in coloured clothing. Understandably, Inzamam was in tears. So were many of his fans, whom he has entertained so well for the past 15 years. The 60 off 37 deliveries against New Zealand in the 1992 World Cup and the century against India in 2004-05, chasing an improbable 350 to win, will be remembered forever.

The developments over the last couple of weeks have taken a toll on Inzy, and it reached a point in which he could take it no more. The shocking loss to Ireland and the huge outcry back home were bad enough for any captain to handle. The death of Bob Woolmer perhaps, was the last straw and led him to take the decision of quitting One day international cricket. He will continue to represent his country in Tests. But knowing the fickle nature of cricket in Pakistan, one can only hope, wait and watch.

Inzy - Thanks for all the cricketing memories.

The saga of rebel tours

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan of Cricinfo, looks back at the rebel tour of West Indian cricketers to apartheid South Africa in 1983. A must read.

The bunch of 18 talented cicketers, who could not break their way into the strong Went Indian side undertook the trip, since the money on offer was lucrative. The fact that immenselely talended cricketers like Colin Croft, Collis King, Alvin Kallicharan, Sylvester Clarke and Lawrence Rowe took this decision is a testimony to the tremendous strength of the West Indian National squad at that point of time. They became instant heroes in South Africa with their typical aggressive style of play, though at home, they are still considered as outcasts. All the players were handed out life bans by the West Indian Cricket Board.

During South Africa's isolation from world cricket during apartheid (1970-1991), a number of rebel tours were organized by Dr.Ali Bacher. Here is the list:

1981-82: An English squad led by Graham Gooch was the first team. All the concerned players, including the captain were banned for 3 years.

1982: A group of players from Sri Lanka toured South Africa under the name of 'Arosa Sri Lanka'. B Warnapura led the side. The whole team was banned for life, which however was subsequently revoked.

1982-83 and 1983-84: Lawrence Rowe captained the side, whose participants were subsequently banned from West Indian cricket and in some cases even cast out from social life in the Carribean. A few players like Richard Austin and Herbert Chang had their life busted and are still leading a reclusive life.

1985 and 1987: Post his resignation as the skipper of Australia, Kim Hughes led a group of Australian cricketers to South Africa.

1990: This was the final rebel tour which featured England, led by Mike Gatting, who was consequently banned for three years. This tour was a debacle since it was at a period when apartheid was about to be relaxed.

Mass exodus in Pakistan cricket

After Inzamam, now it is the turn of the selectors and the PCB chairman to put forward their resignations. Things did not shape up the same way four years ago post Pakistan's 2003 WC debacle. A lesson learnt perhaps! Knowing the stability, or the lack of it in the cricket administration on the other side of the border, expect more of the unexpected.

And finally...

... India managed to register their first win in the World cup, thought they would have liked to run through Bermuda a bit quicker. But overall, a performance to take confidence from and now the Ind-SL match should make for interesting viewing.

Half done

Irony! A pitch termed as a batting paradise produced 191 runs against Bangladesh. Today a pitch termed as tricky with cracks and overcast conditions produced 413 runs, a World Cup record.

A more than satisfactory batting display by the Indians. The job is only half done though. If they manage to bundle Bermuda out for less than 150, then it will put them on a ground which cannot be termed as solid, but a lot firmer than where they were post their defeat at the hands of Bangladesh.

Cricket, more often is a game played between the ears, as the Indians have shown so far today. They have come up with a desperate batting performance when pushed into a corner. Hope that they continue in the same vein in the coming games...

Bangladesh outplay India...

...in all three departments and earn a much deserved victory. The real disappointment being an Indian fan stems from the fact that the team played agonisingly poor cricket. Batting, bowling and fielding lacked spine and Dravid, for all his strategies, looked like a lost kid on the field.

Play has just been stopped in the Pakistan vs Ireland game due to bad light. It looks like there is just a very bleak chance of play resuming and status quo would result in an Irish win on St. Patrick's day effectively ending Pakistan's chances in this edition.

Minnow bashing...

...is the flavour of the season. South Africa are carrying out a massacre of Netherlands. Kallis and Boucher are still cashing in on low hanging fruits as I type.

The Dutch skipper Luuk van Troost was confidence personified before the start of the match. Wonder if he is still feeling the same...

Common sense prevails

...And Finally, ICC has changed the rules for the toss in case of rain.

ICC General Manager – Cricket and Chairman of the Tournament Technical Committee David Richardson said: “Under the original playing conditions the result of the toss was carried over to the reserve day even if a ball was not bowled on day one but there was a groundswell of opinion against that in the meeting. The concerns included the fact that conditions may change overnight and that might result in a side being unfairly disadvantaged if the original toss remained in place."

As an offshoot, the re-toss will also allow the captains to make a team change on the reserve day. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Get Set, Go...

Sir Garfield Sobers officially declared the World Cup open yesterday. The opening ceremony was impressive, considering all the hoopla around West Indies not ready for staging this event. The organizers need to be commended for making up for the lack of floodlights in the stadium. Generators were used to provide lighting and it was not too bad. The speeches were brief and pretty much upto the point. No mindless drawling.

So overall, a fine opening to the 2007 World Cup. Let the games begin...

Cricket Videos

A very neat collection of cricket videos.

Shoaib Akhtar switches to Major League Baseball...

... after testing positive for Nandrolone, a performance enhancing drug, during the ICC Champions Trophy, and due to the repeated reports of his questionable action, the fastest chucker in the world decided to take up a sport in which chucking was official and the offer from Pittsburgh Pirates to be their number 1 pitcher was just the boost that his sagging career wanted. Speaking to newspersons, he was quoted as saying "I want to bowl as many balls as possible for the Pirates", which clearly shows he is not entirely comfortable with the baseball terminologies yet. No wonder the other teams in the league cannot wait to face up to him!!!

Like only ICC can

The BCCI has decided to include Mohammad Azharuddin in a list of prominent cricketers and officials that it plans to honour in a function next month. The ICC, apparently is not amused.

"The ICC has a zero tolerance zone to corruption and we'd like our members to have a similar zero tolerance in this matter," ICC spokesman Brian Murgatroyd told The Associated Press on Friday.

Surprising, considering the fact that Shane Warne and Herschelle Gibbs who have admitted accepting money from bookies, are still allowed to smell the green. And one should not forget Warnie's partner in crime, the graceful Mark Waugh. All that these guys needed to shell out was a pittance as penalty.

To be fair to the BCCI - whom I am not a great fan of, in a lot of other issues - it has dealt with the matchfixing cases in India pretty severely. It meted out strict punishments to Azhar, Jadeja (who was undoubtedly a star in the making)and other also-rans like Ajay Sharma who cashed in.

I think, the ICC just produced a crosscourt backhand, that Roger Federer would be proud of!!!

Disaster Sunday

This Sunday was an absolute drab.. Schumi had to start from the pitlane after he was penalised for delaying tactics in the closing stages of qualifying. That he fought back to finish fifth was, but a small consolation.

Then in the evening, off we went to watch the eagerly awaited Fanaa.. A lot was expected out of this flick which starred Aamir Khan, fresh from his RDB success and Kajol, the numero uno heroine making a comeback... It turned out to be one of the all time great movies ever to grace Indian Cinema. The same love story, remade prehaps for the 45698th time, uncreative music (been hearing the same from Jatin-Lalit, Anu Malik and the other also-rans for ages), admirable over acting by Rishi kapoor and Kiron Kher are some of the high points of the movie, which makes it fascinating to watch. There are some amazingly insipid fight sequences and a gibberish child character, who keeps on repeating the same lines throughout the movie to keep the viewer interested. If you get bored inspite of all these, then try figuring out one thing - other than the lead cast - good in the film, and I am sure that you will have a rocking time, like I did... One of my friends had taken his girlfriend on a date to watch this epic. So depressed was the girl, that she actually threatened to shoot him like Kajol does to Aamir at the climax.. Oops, have I revealed the climax.. Dont bother, you aint missing on anything... So if you are looking for a plan to extract revenge on your mother-in-law, then do not bother to look any further. Just sponsor her tickets for Fanaa!!

And to top off an uneventful day, the Indian cricket team orchestrated a sens(ex)ational collapse, to go down 1-4 to boost the confidence of a sagging West Indies side. Uthappa, Raina and Kaif deserve due appreciation for their efforts to keep the West Indian flag flying high...

Anointed Parrots

Its kind of funny to see how these player interviews and opinions are becoming too drawling and monotonous. A few years back, I remember us queueing in front of the TV, when a Kapil Dev or a Sachin Tendulkar used to come on TV for interviews. But today. one gets to hear the same thing after every match from almost everyone. You can hear Rahul Dravid - with all due respect - explain how well the boys played as a unit, and how brilliantly matchwinners like Dhoni, Raina and Pathan performed. And invariably, it would be followed up with a query on the poor form of a couple of greats, to which you would hear that they have won India many matches in the past and Team India believed in them.

I am a great fan of Rahul Dravid, both as a player and as a captain. Very few have contributed so much to the progress of Indian cricket. He is perhaps the best player India has to offer when playing on foreign pitches, because he handles the short ball very well. One can often see Rahul, all of that steely determination we associate him with, ducking with ease under a Brett Lee bouncer. But as a captain, when you are faced with bouncers from the media, you are expected to hook the odd ball for a boundary, instead of ducking underneath every single one of them.

Every cricket follower in India, with the exception of a few former cricketers who need to comment to earn their bread, realises that the amount of cricket played these days is too much for any player to handle, no matter how fit he is. But try questioning Rahul on player burnout, the reply would always be a diplomatic 'Yeah. Its like that nowadays and our job is to play and win every match'. Agreed, his job is to win every match, but playing in worthless tournaments throughout the year can really take a toll on players' fitness level, during a tournament like the World Cup. Secondly, Saurav Ganguly was one of the finest one day player, the country has ever produced. It was for everyone to see that his form was deserting him, and he did himself no good by blurting out after his painful century against Zimbabwe, but still the way he was handled by the board, leaves a lot to be desired. He was sacked ignonimously, brought back into the Test team, then for no apparent fault of his, was sacked again. Question Rahul on this one, and the answer would be as diplomatic as his previous one, if not more.

A couple of days back, the vice captain of the Indian cricket team Virender Sehwag, when queried by the media, said that there is too much cricket played and that the players needed a break, and then he went on record saying that the team missed the relinquished Saurav Ganguly. A day later, he gets a warning from the BCCI stating that as a player, he cannot put forward his comments on another player. And Sehwag is not the first to be pulled up. Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh have faced warnings earlier. What is wrong in supporting a captain who had groomed you and invigorated your careers? To make it worse, as per the BCCI, even taking the name of the former captain is taboo, and if you happen to praise him by mistake, then one should be ready to face the music.

All in a democratic country, known for its freedom of speech. If only we had it our way, in a country of free speech, there would be no phone bills :)........